“I think the way that a lot of political discourse gets covered in this country is covered at the edges. It is covered by the loudest and shrillest on either end of the political spectrum. That is what tends to get covered on both sides,” Gibbs said near the end of a lengthy briefing.

The comments came as Gibbs -- for the second day -- distanced President Obama and the White House from statements made by former President Jimmy Carter that much of the opposition to Mr. Obama was race-based. The former president told NBC anchor Brian Williams that “an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man.”